a beautiful weekend in tahoe

we headed up to tahoe for the weekend to spend some quality time with a handful of pete's co-workers. it was my first time to lake tahoe and my first time skiing on an actual mountain (the hills in minnesota don't really count). it was fun to play in the snow without the thermometer being below zero!

jenny, andrew, and pete

i survived our skiing adventure!

emerald bay, lake tahoe

a belated christmas on the frozen tundra...

why we travel to minnesota in january is a mystery to me...as much of a mystery as the people who choose to live in that ungodly cold state! the temperatures did make it above zero this year, though, so that was an improvement. the house grew increasingly warm as my whole family descended on my parents' house for our belated christmas get-together. lefse making, pheasant hunting, snow fort building, and continuous cooking was the agenda for the weekend.

nearly the whole family...we forgot to take the photo before brian left

 kieran with his fire chief hat and new turnout boots!

 luke (2) and kieran (4) in the snow

alexandra lynn - her first christmas

in addition to celebrating a late christmas, we also celebrated madeline's end of treatment for leukemia! when i asked her what the best parts of being done with treatment were she said, "my port is gone and i can eat ice cream whenever i want." we have all learned so much from her over the last two and a half years and i know that she will continue to guide us through the next phase of watching and hoping the cancer doesn't return.

the bravest 12-year old i know

cassie turned 13 in december! she still has some spunk left in her and shows her puppy spirit on a regular basis. she has slowed down a bit and has either lost her hearing or chooses not to listen to us more often, but she is a bright spot in our lives. 

cancer FREE!

it is with GREAT hope, joy, and excitement that i report that my niece, Madeline, is officially finished with chemotherpy! after 26 months of treatment, she is leukemia free! the only wish for her 12th birthday came true...

thank you all for your support and well wishes during her journey!